1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game machine which can provide a game player with a thrilling and exciting fun in a game, and in particular to a game machine which comprises shift and display means for shifting and displaying various kinds of symbol marks and awarding means for awarding a winning prize to a game player when a predetermined set of symbol marks are stopped and displayed on a prize winning line.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has so far been proposed a game machine such as a slot machine which generally comprises a start lever to be operated by a game player, a plurality of rotation reels forming part of the shift and display means, and a plurality of stop buttons for selectively stopping the respective rotation reels after all the rotation reels are driven to rotate simultaneously with the operation of the start lever by a game player. The stopping of each of the rotation reels will result in awarding a winning prize to the game player when a predetermined set of symbol marks are stopped and displayed on an effective prize winning line of the observation window. At this time, a predetermined number of game medals are paid out to the game player in proportion to a winning state resulted from a lottery action run in the slot machine. The winning state is determined in accordance with the segment of a prize probability table to which a random number sampled by the lottery action belongs. More specifically, the segment having the random number generated as a result of the lottery action belong defines a winning state, which in turn defines a kind of the prize winning request flag.
The stop positions of the rotating rotation reels are controlled to have the set of symbol marks representative of the type of the prize winning request flag stopped and displayed in the observation window. For instance, if the set of symbol marks representative of the winning state are currently not displayed in the observation window, however, located within four symbol marks to be displayed subsequently, the concerned rotation reels, outside of which the target symbol marks are drawn, are controlled to rotate with the result that the target set of symbol marks are stopped and displayed (the control operation is hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cstop and display control operationxe2x80x9d).
There is provided a slot machine called xe2x80x9cCT (Challenge Time) machinexe2x80x9d which is designed to interrupt the stop and display control operation for one or more specific rotation reels (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cspecific rotation reelsxe2x80x9d) with the certain winning conditions completed for a certain period. The period is hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cCT periodxe2x80x9d. For instance, the condition for the small winning prize satisfied causes the CT machine to interrupt the stop and display control operation for the specific rotation reels. This results in the fact that the stop positions of the specific rotation reels are determined merely by the operation timing of a game player. During a CT period in which the stop and display control operation is interrupted, the stop and display control operation is still active for some rotation reels (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cremaining rotation reelsxe2x80x9d) other than the specific rotation reels. The remaining rotation reels are controlled to have the target set of symbol marks stopped and displayed as long as they are located within four symbol marks to be displayed subsequently at the time when the game player operates the stop button.
The CT machine of this type is disclosed by the Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-238888 which is laid open in 1989.
For the aforesaid CT machine, the stop position of the specific rotation reel determined during the CT period totally depends upon the operational skill of the stop button by a game player. It is generally difficult for unskilled game players to operate the stop button at a right timing with a visual observation of the symbol marks appeared on the observation window so as to stop and display the desired set of the symbol marks on any of the effective prize winning lines of the observation window. This operation of the stop button by the game player with the careful observation of the symbol marks is hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9cobservation pushxe2x80x9d for brevity. As a consequence, experienced game players like and enthusiastically play the CT machine while the inexperienced game players tend to refrain from playing it.
The conventional slot machine other than the CT machine can be operated to perform the stop and display control operation. However, the stop and display control operation merely serves as one help means for the game players to perform the aforesaid observation push. The stop and display control operation allows operation error only up to four symbol marks to be adjusted. Accordingly, it is still difficult for the inexperienced game player to perform the observation push to stop and display the desired set of symbol marks on any of the effective prize winning lines of the observation window even with the conventional slot machine provided with the stop and display control function.
In order to make it possible for the inexperienced game players to facilitate the operation of the foregoing observation push, there may be considered another improvement having a specified symbol mark relatively large in compassion with the other symbol marks. Among other thing, the specified symbol mark has a lateral width laterally extending enough to the lateral width of the rotation reels forming part of the shift and display means to ensure that the observation plush can easily be performed, thereby enabling the lateral edges of the specified symbol mark to readily be watched by the game payer. The specified symbol mark targeted by the game player is frequently apt to be changed in response to the game conditions of the game machine. For example, the game machine is operated under the bonus inner winning game condition, it is necessary to stop and display the set of symbol marks representative of the bonus prize winning state (e.g., seven) on the prize winning line by the observation push. Or otherwise, the current game condition of the game machine is the CT period, the game player should stop and display the set of symbol marks representative of the small prize winning state on the prize winning line by the observation push.
This leads to the fact that the aforementioned game machine is required to be provided with a plurality of specified symbol marks each having a relatively large lateral width in the lateral direction, i.e., horizontal direction of the rotation reels. If the number of such specified symbol marks is increased, the specified symbol marks tends to be watched and recognized by the game player as being interfered with one another, thereby resulting in loss of the effect stemming from the large sizes of the specified symbol marks.
The symbol mark themselves are formed to have a lateral width as large as the lateral edges of the rotation reels. It is therefore impossible for the symbol marks to be designed to have a length in the rotation direction, i.e., vertical direction of the rotation reels. This means that the symbol marks each having a human body horizontally extending on a bed can be drawn while the symbol marks each having a human body vertically erected is difficult to be drawn.
On the other hand, the specified symbol marks may be considered to be relatively large in the vertical direction of the rotation reels as compared with the other symbol marks for the inexperienced game player to be able to complete the observation push. The specified symbol marks are each exemplified by a specified symbol mark having a size two times as large as those of the other symbol marks in the vertical direction of the rotation reels. This large sized specified symbol mark causes such a problem that the large sized specified symbol mark extend across at least adjacent two winning lines of the observation window.
As an alternative way, there may be considered to make every symbol marks to be enlarged together with the rotation reels each having a large size corresponding to the size of the conventional symbol mark. The symbol marks thus enlarged trigger another problem that the enlarged symbol marks leads the game machine to have a big size in response to the sizes of the enlarged symbol marks, thereby making it impossible for the game machine to be accommodated in a pachinko parlor. This is because the game machine such as a slot machine used in the pachinko parlor has a nationwide decided size but cannot be made to have a size larger than the nationwide decided size by producing the rotation reels. It is therefore understood that the relative differentiation between the sizes of the specified symbol mark and the ordinary symbol mark makes it possible for the game player to be able to easily perform the observation push. Another idea is that the size of each symbol mark can be enlarged in proportion to the number of each symbol mark reduced. This idea also causes such a problem that the reduced number of the symbol marks on the rotation reels results in the kinds of winning chance being reduced, thereby causing the game itself to be tedious and boring.
The above mentioned game machine is designed in consideration of the game play in the xe2x80x9cCTxe2x80x9d period of the game machine but not produced by giving a consideration to the regular game period of the game machine which is extremely long as compared with the xe2x80x9cCTxe2x80x9d period of the game machine.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a game machine which is designed in consideration not only of the game play in the xe2x80x9cCTxe2x80x9d, period of the game machine but also of the regular game period of the game machine which is extremely long as compared with the xe2x80x9cCTxe2x80x9d period of the game machine.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game machine which provides a game player with the improved fun by making the specified symbol mark in the form of an easy-viewable profile to the extent that the specified symbol marks can be easily identified from other symbol marks.
In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine, comprising: shift and display means for shifting and displaying various kinds of symbol marks, the shift and display means having prize winning lines formed thereon, in which a predetermined set of symbol marks stopped and displayed on one of the prize winning lines cause a winning prize to be awarded to a game player, the predetermined set of symbol marks including a plurality of symbol marks neighboring to each other to form a specified symbol mark.
The specified symbol mark is preferably in the form of an easy-viewable profile which can be easily identified from other symbol marks.
The shift and display means is partly constituted by a plurality of observation windows. The specified symbol mark includes a first semi-circular symbol mark formed in the shape of an upper half of a circular configuration having a diameter approximately equal to the lateral width of the observation window of the shift and display means, and a second semi-circular symbol mark formed in the shape of a lower half of a circular configuration and neighboring to the first semi-circular symbol mark to complete a circle in cooperation with the first semi-circular symbol mark.
According to the second aspect of present invention, the game machine comprises: shift and display means for shifting and displaying various kinds of symbol marks; a random number generator for generating random numbers divided into a plurality of random number segments; a random number sampler for sampling a random number from the random numbers generated by the random number generator, storage means for storing table data having a plurality of predetermined reference values; winning state determining means for determining a winning state on the basis of the sampled random number using the reference values of the table data; stop control means for controlling the stop of the shift and display means to have a set of symbol marks stopped and displayed on the basis of the winning state determined by the winning state determining means. The winning states include small, medium and big prize winning states. The winning state determining means is operative to determine a plurality of small prize winning states associated with one of the random number segments of the random numbers in one game, thereby making it possible for the small prize winning states to be requested in one game unless the big prize winning state or the medium prize winning state is requested. The stop control means is operative to control the shift and display means to have the specified symbol mark stopped and displayed on one of the prize winning lines of the shift and display means when the plurality of small prize winning states are requested.
According to the second aspect of present invention, the game machine, the game machine, comprises: shift and display means for shifting and displaying various kinds of symbol marks; a random number generator for generating random numbers divided into a plurality of random number segments; a random number sampler for sampling a random number from the random numbers generated by the random number generator, storage means for storing table data having a plurality of predetermined reference values; winning state determining means for determining a winning state on the basis of the sampled random number using the reference values of the table data; stop control means for controlling the stop of the shift and display means to have a set of symbol marks stopped and displayed on the basis of the winning state determined by the winning state determining means. The winning states include small, medium and big prize winning states. The winning state determining means is operative to determine a plurality of small prize winning states associated with one of the random number segments of the random numbers in one game, thereby making it possible for the small prize winning states to be requested in one game. The plurality of the small prize winning states are changed in accordance with the game condition.
According to the present invention, two small prizes can be won in the regular game condition, thereby making it possible for a specified symbol mark constituted by a plurality of symbol marks neighboring to each other to be stopped and displayed by means of the shift and display means. This results in the fact that the fun of the game in the regular game condition is extensively stimulated. In addition, with the aid of such a symbol mark, which is larger in the size than the other symbol marks, the observation push by the game player is facilitated as described hereinbefore.
The present invention also provides a game machine comprising: storage means for storing table data having a plurality of predetermined reference values; shift and display means for shifting and displaying various kinds of symbol marks; a random number generator for generating random numbers; a random number sampler for sampling a random number from the random numbers generated by the random number generator; winning state determining means for determining the winning state on the basis of the sampled random number using the table data; stop control means for controlling the stop of the shift and display means to have a set of symbol marks stopped and displayed, in which the game machine is operative under a plurality of game conditions, the winning states include small prize winning states, the winning state determining means is operative to determine a plurality of small prize winning states for one or more predetermined combinations of the small prize winning states in one game, and the one or more predetermined combinations of the small prize winning states are changed in accordance with the game condition.
The shift and display means can include a plurality of rotation reels having various kinds of symbol marks drawn on the outer surface thereof. The game machine may include a slot machine. A prize winning group constituted by a plurality of small prize winning states each representative of the respective segment of the lottery data table used for the lottery action run in the game machine can be changed depending on the game condition. This leads to the fact that the fun of the game player is stimulated. In addition the game player can recognize the current game condition by observing the won small prizes, thereby making it possible for the interest of the game player to be multiplied.